Kichimaru
by queennymphadora
Summary: Kichimaru has moved from the Song village to the village hidden in the Leaves. The town isn't too happy with her, but she makes some friends, including Naruto. But her last name, Uchiha, makes her very famous to someone....
1. Prolog

He hung over me, unseeing eyes cruel and murderous. "Itachi!" I wailed, thinking that he would take me away from the massacre. I was eight now, and the attack on the Uchiha was raging around me. A man with very scary eyes like a dead man showed up to Itachi's side. "I liked this one," said Itachi said with a cool, terrifying voice. "I'll do something more...honorable to her." I started to cry. He took out a scroll with red writing on it--blood. The words scurried and morphed on the page as they shaped themselves into a demon that resembled a tiger. The scary man bit his thumb, letting blood ooze out, unstopped. He swiped it across the scroll, and it disappeared, and Itachi's hand began to glow red. He wrapped his crimson fingers around my neck.

I burned, I screamed, and I glowed red.

"The Tiger will devour her slowly," he said. "Quite honorable for a favorite cousin, don't you think, Kisame? To give strength to an almighty demon." The scary man, who apparently was Kisame, laughed. I screamed again. "Itachi!" I cried, pleading for him to make the burning stop. He left the room without another glance, and closed the door.

As I writhed in pain, I heard another young voice yell. I heard two sickening thumps, and knew one was that young voice. I screamed, but something surprised me: the fire was dying. Now, only spits of pain occurred on my forehead, my ears, my head, and my cheeks. A voice said, _I cannot burn you, child. But I can save you. _I was only eight, but I would soon know that the Tiger demon's soul had become, so it could not hurt me. Itachi had made a mistake. He should have used his own blood to do this, for he had constructed the scroll and trapped the demon. If he had, I'd been burned alive. However, his mistake made me strong, and I would now have the permanent mark of the Tiger.

And a thirst for revenge.


	2. Exploring

I was carrying a huge brown box into our new kitchen. It held all of Mom's kitchen utensils. She loved to cook, and had the look of a stay-at-home mother. She had bunchy, brown hair which was often frizzy. Her eyes were brown, too, and she wore a tee-shirt with pants often. She had thin leather shoes. "Ugly but durable!" she always said in her sing-song cheery voice. We had moved from the Song village to the Leaf village this week, and it was Tuesday. I got a day off from Ninja School because I needed to help my parents unpack. I was an only child. Actually, my mom and dad were only foster parents. My clan had been massacred by my cousin when I was only a eight. I was very silly then, and always said that I was three. I was tall now. I was so short at age eight that people actually thought that I was eight. Suta, my cat who had the Song village mark on his forehead, jumped onto the top of the box, which knocked off my balance. I staggered around for a moment before dropping it sloppily onto our old table. My name was Kichimaru Uchiha. I had a big secret about me, too: I had Suta, the Tiger demon, in me. Yep. My cat. Actually, his forehead marking had changed to the Leaf village's mark the second we entered the borders. I had a special Jutsu that I called Frilly. I liked the name, and it hid how powerful it was. My dad peeked through the door from the living room after the clatter of utensils alerted him. He had blond hair and had green eyes. His hair was unruly and uncombed today. He had a big nose, which I was lucky not to have. He had normally colored skin, unlike my mom, who had pale white skin. I had dad's skin. Lucky me, actually. In case you haven't noticed, I say "actually" a whole lot.  
"What happened?" he said. He was always a worry-wart. "Suta, as usual!" I joked. He looked at innocent-looking Suta who was washing himself in the table. "I thought his spot was different..." he muttered. He was referring to Suta's village mark. "His hair must have grown enough to change it," I lied. I was good at lying. Well, now I guess I have to describe myself. Like I said earlier, I had a small-ish nose and normal colored skin. I had pink hair which I had got from Suta. I just say that I dye it a lot. I wore a HUGE tee-shirt with a monkey that looked like this: XP. I wore loose brown pants with deep pockets when I wasn't outside the house along with my shirt. I had a ribbon that tied my hair together into a pony-tail, and I had two maroon marks on each side of my face. I had bright green eyes like Suta. And most shocking of all: I had cat ears. Well, tiger ears, in a way. Mom and Dad think they're a part of a head band that I wear, but it's not.  
"Nice going, Suta!" I snapped at him. He smiled annoyingly. "I though it'd be funny, Kichimaru," he purred. I didn't know if only I could hear him or if he kept Mom and Dad from hearing. "Jerk," I muttered, but his tiger hearing still caught the words. "It's better than me devouring you in flames," he retorted. He never let me forget that he had chosen not to burn me, dispite my cousin's mistake. My cousin, as you probably know, is Itachi. His mistake had been using someone else's blood for the curse, which gave Suta a choice on whether to burn me or not. Itachi was perfect in everything, but now he used it for evil. He massacred every person in my clan, and I was the only survivor...so I though before this month.  
"Quick!" said clever Suta. "Get away, before your parents make you pick up more boxes!" He was half joking, half serious. Laughing, I grabbed him under the stomach and ran outside and to the street. I could see houses and stores that ran endlessly across the land. Well, endlessly until the street split left and/or right. There were food shops and clothing shops and pottery shops and furniture shops. Suta was complaining silently by his treatment, so I told him to climb into my deep pocket. He obeyed, managing to rip a small hole in my shirt. I didn't care, though. I loved this shirt. Enough to actually wash it every week. My shirt cleanliness is the only thing I can keep in order. I had no strategy, actually. I did whatever I could when I came to it. Suta was moving around in my pocket, trying to get comfortable. When he finally got settled, I started running as fast as I could down the street. I weaved through people and carts, quickly observing anything I could see. I ran too close to a woman in rich clothing and she stumbled in the dusty street, her purse sliding a few feet away. "Ingrate!" she shrieked at me, but I kept running. Suta poked his head out of my pocket and said, "You're not at your full speed, Kichimaru!" I smiled wryly. I leaned forward, shot my arms behind me, and went faster and faster. The shops and houses shot past me in blurs, and I shot around people and carts easily, though just for fun I waited until the last second to dodge. I heard people yelling at me and cart owners gasping right before I dodged. I jumped over a huge dog that snapped at my leg. I laughed at it and Suta playfully hissed at it. Suta had a thing about dogs. He messed with them all the time, though he was incapable of leaving me without me finding him. I didn't want him messing with dogs around people, because I think people find it unusual when cats blow raspberries at random dogs on the street.  
My lungs were clenching with the workout, and I'd been running for fifteen minutes straight. I shot into the closest shop I saw, which was a food shop. It was small, though. The whole building was just the counter and the kitchen behind it, and a roof over the row of stools that sat by the counter. Only one person was in one of the few chairs, and I sat a seat away from him, puffing to catch my breath. Suta climbed out of my pocket and onto the counter. He was licking his paw to pull out thread balls from between his toes. The boy in the other stool thanked the cook when a bowl of noodles, probably Raman, in front of him. He began slurping it down quickly, and I could't help but laugh. He looked at me weirdly, a bunch of noodled hanging out. He slurped them in, and stared at me. After a while, he finally said, "You look weird. What's with the ears?" My smile disappeared, and I frowned at him. "It's a long story, kid. You know, that jumpsuit you're wearing isn't that normal, either!" He frowned, too, turning all the way toward me. "I haven't seen you before, right?" he said, and I nodded. "I'm Kichimaru. I just moved here from the Song village." The cook gave me a mean glare.  
"Hmm," said the guy. "Well, my name's Naruto. And this "jumpsuit" is my signature look!" He put on a big smile, which made him look stupid. He had some lines on his cheeks, and blond, Spike hair. His orange clothes had some blue parts on it, and the ends of the sleeves, the pants, and the neck had white stretchy cloth. He wore dark blue boots and a plaque on his forehead that had the Leaf village insignia."Why does that cook guy make me feel like mold?" I jokingly asked. Naruto shrugged. "Maybe because you're from the song village. Hey, don't they wear those stupid ropes around their waists?" I glared at him. The rope was a part of Song village ninja. "I don't have mine anymore. I'm Leaf village now," I said. The cook walked up to me, and sneered at me. "You've been here long enough, er, Kichi-whoever!" he snarled. "But-" I started, but he just shoved Suta off the table, who nicked his fingers with his long claws. The cook ran around the desk, probably deciding to get rid of Suta the easy way. "Hurt him, and this'll hurt you," I snarled back at him, and held out a long knife from my other pocket. I was never without that long, and dangerous, knife. I had kept it since the Uchiha clan massacre. The cook glared at me for a long moment, and stomped back behind the counter. Naruto had slurped the last of his raman, and had flung off the stool. "I'm leaving too," he yelled back at the grumpy cook, and I called Suta back to me. He jumped onto my shoulder, and around my neck.  
"So, are you a ninja or what?" he asked. "That knife was pretty big!"  
"Yeah," I said. "I'm a ninja. This isn't exactly my ninja gear, though," I said, referring to my clothing. He nodded, and put his hands behind his head, his elbows out.  
"So," he said. "Do you need some dopey tour or what?" I shook my head. "I've already had a good tour of the place," I said. This was true, because I'd run around the whole town. I put on a mischiefous smirk, and stopped right where I was. After a few steps, Naruto stopped, too. "What?" he said, putting his arms back to his side. "Wanna see my tour, my way?" I asked. He looked confused, and I bolted forward and left to the next street. "Hey!" he cried, and bolted after me. I wasn't at my full speed yet, but the kid was still a few inches behind me. I dodged around some people, but the street rush had cleared out, only showing the occasional shopper and some children. Carts were still at the edge of the street, though. It was around six-thirty PM now, and clouds were brimming the sky.  
"So," Naruto puffed. "Tell me that long ear story." I shook my head, and went a bit faster, now four feet ahead.  
"How're you so fast?" he yelled from behind, and grunted as he ran faster. "Me?" I joked. "I'm just jogging." I then ran my fastest, getting over three yards and a half ahead of the blonde kid and more every second. Naruto grunted, trying to get faster. I was getting a bit closer, but he was getting a bit tired. I was also puffing, half exausted from my last run. We were running over a hill now, and I jumped over the top and slid-ran down. I was getting faster out of my own free will, and so was Naruto. I looked back at him, sticking out my tounge. He was laughing, clearly enjoying this challenge. I looked ahead once more, and tried to brake. I slid my feet sideways, kicking up dirt and rocks. We had reached the edge of the town, and were facing dense forest a few feet ahead. I finally stopped sliding, and fell backwards because of the break in momentum. I fell on my left arm, and sent Suta flying. He landed, purring, a yard away. At that moment, Naruto tripped over me and landed on top. We were both laughing, though Naruto laughed a bit more stupidly. We were both dusty and my left arm was a tad scratched from my fall. I shoved him off me, and he sat cross-legged by Suta.  
"Nice cat," he said, and grabbed him. Suta growled, but Naruto just flicked his ear. "I wouldn't-" I tried, but Suta had already scratched Naruto's hands.  
"Stupid cat," he grunted, and dropped him. Suta scrambled up and onto my shoulder and around my neck again, and I sat up, facing the blonde idiot. "  
What's your name again?" he asked me, and after I had brushed some dirt off, I replied,  
"Kichimaru." He laughed to my puzzlement.  
"That doesn't sound much like a girl's name!" he said. I frowned and grunted at him.  
"So? A name's a name!"  
"Not when it doesn't match!"  
"Oh, what do you know, idiot?"  
He stopped laughing, and I heard a voice in the trees.  
"Who's this, Naruto?" it asked, and then I saw it. It was a girl with pink hair like me. She wore a read shirt that had a flap-like thing that hung over her front and back, and darker blue pants that reached her knees. The shirt was bordered with white and a zipper in front like Naruto.  
"This is Kichimaru," he replied. "Kichimaru, this is Sakura Haruno." He bent towards me, and cupped his had to my ear. "She's my girlfriend."  
"I heard that, Naruto!" yelled Sakura, who was still in the tree. She swiftly jumped down, almost perfectly, and ran punched him upside the head.  
"Hi, Kichimaru," she said, and shook my hand. "I see you've met Idiot, here." I laughed. It was too funny to resist. Naruto was rubbing his head while standing up. I stood up too, and saw that I was no taller or shorter than Sakura.  
"Hey, Naruto," I said. "What's your last name?" Before he could answer, Sakura whispered in my ear like he did.  
"He probably forgot it!" I laughed, but a bit less this time. It was fun calling him an idiot, but it wasn't quite fair, I thought. Naruto grunted, and pulled his hand from his head.  
"It's Uzamaki." I nodded. "We're on the same ninja team, me and Sakura." I was a bit puzzled.  
"Isn't there a third?" I asked, knowing that each team of ninjas have three, at least in this village.  
"Yeah, there is," said Sakura. I felt Suta shift around my neck until he was propped on my head, his chin on his paws. "Oh, how cute!" squeeled Sakura, and she grabbed him in her arms. She held him like a baby, and ran her finger down his and and nose. I could wonder what he was thinking now, "Better that that blonde idiot." Sakura let him down, and he climbed back onto my head. "Stop climbing up and down. You're gonna make me chopped beef!" He batted my head playfully with his paw.  
"Where is he, anyway?" asked Naruto. Sakura said something about training with Kakashi, though I had no clue who he was. Naruto grunted, and folded his arms together. "He ALWAYS trains with him!" he complained, and I was utterly confused.  
"I'm hungry. Let's eat!" he said. He had his hands back behind his head, now.  
"You JUST ate, how can you be hungry?" I said. "And plus: that cook doesn't like me much since I'm from the Song village." Naruto frowned. "Well, then, I'll eat, and you guys and go do whatevever you want."  
"Actually," said Sakura. "I'm hungry, too. Bye!" She ran after him and I was alone. I waited until they had turned the street until I started toward home.  
"That was an unusual day," said Suta. Agreed, I thought, and turned the corner. It was past seven now, and it was time for dinner.


	3. Late for Humiliation

I arrived home a few minutes after dinner started. Mom was scolding me about being late and all that junk about kidnappings. I rolled my eyes when she turned away, and I made my way to the dinner table. We were having mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, and corn-on-the-cob for dinner. Suta was in the other room eating his dinner, which he complained about almost every day. I try to satisfy him by sneaking meats and fish into his bowl, but he still complained. Not very mature for a Tiger demon, right?  
"So," said Dad when I sat down and grabbed a corn-on-the-cob. "where were you all this time. You bailed out on helping us!" At first I expected him to be mad about this, but he just kept smiling.  
"I was running around town on my tour," I said. "I stopped by at this cafe, but the cook didn't like me too much." Dad raised his eyebrows in fascination.  
"Why?" he asked. I shrugged and took a bite of mashed potatoes. After swallowing, I replied, "I was talking to someone and I mentioned that we moved from the Song village." Dad's eyebrows returned back to normal. He probably wasn't too surprised by this, but he made sure that he had all the documents and permissions to move to this village, just in case someone came asking.  
"Who'd you meet?" asked Mom. She was daintily cutting up the chicken on her plate, knife screaching silently.  
"I met a blond boy named Naruto and a pink-haired girl like me named Sakura," I replied. Mom smiled and Dad spoke up.  
"A boy, huh?" I rolled my eyes. He always worried about absolutely everything that's issued in the world.  
"Yeah, Dad," I said. "Don't get so worried about it. But he did joke around about my name. He said it sounded like a boy's name." Dad settled down, and bit into his corn.  
"A note came today about your Ninja training, Kichimaru!" said Mom, putting down her silverware and takind a piece of pape out of her pocket.  
"Your Sensei is a man named Rukima Sensei." I wasn't too interested right now, but I decided to act like it.  
"Who'll be training with me?" I asked, finishing my corn and potatoes together.  
"It doesn't say," said Mom. "But I know that they're both boys." _Goody, _I thought. _More guys._ In my old squad, they were both boys. I wondered now if it was regulation to have two boys and a girl in each squad. My thoughts were inturrupted by the usual, "Why don't you take off that head band?" I answered my usual, "I like it! I don't want to take it off."

After dinner, I went up to my new room while Mom did the dishes. I turned on the light in my rather small room, which had a dark wooden drawer, my bed with red blue covers and a white pillow with green spots, and a shelf that was full of books and junk. Suta popped up into my room and jumped onto my bed.  
"Where were you?" I asked. Suta hadn't been at his bowl after dinner, and I was worried he was teasing dogs again.  
"I was trying to find out who your squad members are," he replied casually. He turned around on my bed and laid down, his long tail wrapped gently over him.  
"Did you find anything?" I asked. But he just shook his head.  
"No, I didn't. Sorry!" I shrugged and slumped onto my bed. I was exhausted after today, and I had to meet my new squad tomorrow.  
"'Night, Suta!" I moaned and turned out the light. He mewed a reply, but I had already fallen asleep.

I saw bunched comfortably in a ball under my blankets. Well, I wasn't sure what position I was in because one, I was too tired; two, I don't think it was important to know; and three, I was late. Mom was yelling from outside my door, and I realized that I had slept in my street clothes. _Holy smack, I need to get ready!_ I jumped out of bed, but I'd done it too quickly. I staggered a bit and let myself catch balance for only a second. I grabbed my armored jacket, which had a fabric-like armor that was three times stronger than steel. Yes, I'm reading off of the tag. I threw on a pair of grey pants and tied on my black boots, and re-tied the ribbon in my hair. I ran out of my room, past the kitchen, and out the door before Mom could finish her I'm-gonna-be-late sentence. Suta was bounding after me, and a doubled back to grab him. I didn't pause to put him in my pocket or around my neck, and crossed a wooden bridge and almost fell off. I flashed by a group of three kids, and the two I recognized as Naruto and Sakura. The other was black haired with a navy blue shirt with a insignia on the back that looked like a pokeball. (author's opinion, not Kichimaru's) I kept running around town, looking for anyone that would look like a Sensei and my squad. I jumped over a loose brick on the road, but just landed on the wrong side of another loose one. I tripped and fell on top of Suta, who growled in protest.  
"Sorry, Suta," I murmured, and got to my knees. When I got back to my feet, I saw a boy running towards me. He had a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and had the Leaf village plaque tied around his forehead. He had dark red hair. He had tennishoes, but the back around his waist confirmed that he was in a squad.  
"Are you all right?" he asked, and kicked the brick to the side of the road.  
"Yeah," I said, and picked up Suta.  
"Um, do you know where I can find Rukima Sensei?" I asked, and he settled himself.  
"Yeah, he's my Sensei. I'm Aki, and the other guy's Yuma. We've been a two-guy squad for a while, and you must be Kichimaru, the knew girl!" I asked him to take me to him, and he jogged back the way I came. I must have passed them. He ran over the bridge, with me following, and turned right from where I came. I saw now that they were at this side of the stream, and I had obviously and avoidably passed them. I was greeted by the smile of a taller boy who wore a red tee-shirt and tan pants and sandals. (Neji wears, or should I say wore them. sob) His dirty blond hair was all scruffy and his plaque was on his upper-arm. He must be Yuma. And an older man that had dark skin. He had an armored jacket like me, but this one was green and he had darker pants. He had black hair like the pokeball shirt kid, and his eyes were kind and excited.  
"Late by about three seconds," he mused, and laughed. Yuma didn't seem to care, and Aki was acting like and idiot by trying to stand on one leg.  
"Sorry," I said.  
"Well," he started. "Now that we have three, we can play the bell game." He held up to silver bells on red thread, and I realized that this was one of the most humiliating games of training ever.


	4. Suta, You Dork

"Do you remember the rules?" asked Rukima Sensei to me. I wasn't listening, and didn't answer, so I guess he thought I didn't remember. My attention was only fixed on his instructions when he moved the bells away. "These are the rules," he said. "You are to try and get these bells away from me. There is only two, so one of you will not succeed. The one without a bell will be tied, by or against their will, to a tree in the forest all night. This may or may not be the way you ever did it back at the Song village, but the rules are still basically the same." Aki was upright again, his eyes wide with humor and joy. I guessed that he and Yuma had waited a long time to have a third squad member so they could participate in the Chunin exams, harder missions, and of course, the bell game. Rukima Sensei held up the bells, glittering in the early sun, as he started this came. I hadn't noticed that Suta was gone until now, and a question suddenly came to me. "Rukima Sensei?" I asked.  
"Yes, Kichimaru?" he replied.  
"If Suta, my cat, gets a bell, does that count on my behalf?" Rukima Sensei hesitated for a moment, his eyes looking away in thought.  
"I guess so. But I'd encourage you to try and get it for yourself." he said finally. After a few moments, he started speaking again, "Ready, Set, GO!" At 'GO!', Rukima Sensei was gone, only a few blades of grass which had been ripped from the ground my his sudden departure twirled in the air. "Where'd he go?" mumbled Yuma, but Aki, for some reason, was lying on the ground. He had his ear to the earth, his lips twisted in concentration. Before I could ask him what he was doing, he began running to the left of me, knocking Yuma over. Yuma yelled his complaint, and ran after him at a slower pace. "Let's go," murmured Suta to me, and he hopped onto my shoulder, clawing at my clothes and scrambling up my frictionless armored jacket. I yelled my complaint at Suta, and charged after Yuma. I was determined not to lose, especially on my first day. I wasn't used to the town yet, even after running through it twice. My feet skidded under me every now and then, but I keep myself up and running, and I was soon in front of Yuma. Houses and shops whizzed by, Yuma whizzing farther and farther behind me, and I almost forgot what I was doing. I was wondering aimlessly, thinking that I was following Aki, until I realized that I was following no one. I skidded to a stop, closing my eyes and trying to listen to the world around me, trying to find any trace of Rukima Sensei. I felt Yuma run by me, turn a corner, and disappear, and then I heard running footsteps from that direction, not like Yuma's that I had just heard. It was either Aki or Rukima Sensei, and I hoped with all my might that it was Rukima Sensei. I didn't want to lose. I couldn't lose. I wouldn't lose.  
I ran after the sound, and started focusing my chakara to my ears, like my previous Sensei had taught me, to strengthen my hearing. I still heard the footsteps, but they were getting farther away, but then I heard them loud and clear, but they faded away once I passed a few yards. I ran back, wondering how that could happen. There wasn't a road this way for Rukima Sensei to go, and I was puzzled. I looked up at the shops and houses that I had heard the steps come from before I passed them. I frowned in concentration, trying to figure all this out. I looked up at the sky, for no reason in particular, and then it hit me. _Rukima Sensei is jumping on the houses! _I stepped on the window pane of the nearest shop, pulling myself to the flat, burning roof that was baked by the sun. I looked over the town, now marveling how many streets their were. I saw the hill where Naruto and I had fallen off, where I had met Sakura who surprisingly took no notice of my cat ears. I looked the other way, and saw Aki walking down the street, his hand clenching something that I couldn't see. _He's got a bell! _I thought. I had to hurry. Yuma could of found Rukima Sensei already, trying to capture a bell. I turned around to look behind me, and saw him standing a few streets away, holding only one bell. I groaned, and jumped off the house and ran into an alley filled with trash and boxes. Yuma was in this street, acting casual. I couldn't hear Yuma anywhere, and I crouched, ready to spring at the bells. I ran, charging my fastest, and I grabbed Rukima Sensei's arm, and reached at the bells. But he flung me off, and I skidded in the dirt, Suta falling off my shoulder. I scrambled up again and pounced at him, but he jumped out of the way. "You have to be faster than that," mused Rukima Sensei, and I charged again. This time I grabbed his arm tighter, determined not to be flung off. I reached for the bell, which was jingling its heart out. I was only a few centimeters away from it, when it disappeared. My shock made me loosen my grip on Rukima Sensei, and I fell off. I looked wildly around, trying to figure out where it had gone. But then I saw it in front of my face, and laughing Yuma jingling it between his fingers. Aki had joined us, jingling his bell around, too. "You know what this means!" laughed Rukima Sensei. I scrambled to my feet and tried to run away, but he grabbed the collar of my jacket while Yuma and Aki held my arms. I kicked and grunted. I didn't want to lose. I was dragged to the forest, ever second I kicked and struggled, until I was held to a tree while Rukima Sensei tied me with large ropes. I kicked even after they left, trying to free myself from this prison. I was biting at the nearest ropes, but nothing helped. I kicked one last time at the tree, and my head drooped down. I groaned as loud as I could manage, and was answered to rustling in the bushes.

First I saw Naruto, still wearing his orange clothes. Then I saw Sakura talking to someone behind her. But the other two I still didn't know. First I saw a man with silver spiky hair, his Leaf village plaque around his forehead, tilted to cover one eye. He wore a mas that went over his nose, and he wore mostly dark shades of green as clothing. Then I saw the black haired kid that I saw waiting with Sakura and Naruto. He had his hands in his pockets, with an expression that showed not interest. He looked shockingly familiar, but I passed it off since I had seen him before I joined Rukima Sensei, Yuma, and Aki for the bell game. I was startled by a loud laugh, which came from Naruto. "Oh, shut up," I retorted. But he still laughed. "What happened?" asked Sakura, who to my relief wasn't laughing at me.  
"Bell game," I murmured. Then Sakura started laughing.  
"I remember that game!" she said. "Naruto here lost and got tied to the tree all night!" Naruto stopped laughing, and he folded his arms. "So what?" he mumbled. Then the black haired kid spoke, "Naruto's a total loser. You probably are, too." I frowned at him, then spit at his shoes. I missed. "I'm a loser?" I retorted. "I'm not the one with a picture of a red golf ball on their shirt!" That seemed to have gotten him mad. "That's my clan symbol!" he yelled, his teeth gritting.  
"Well then, it's a stupid one!" I spat back.  
"In case you didn't know, my clan was especially popular!"  
"How come I've never heard of it, then? Or anyone else in the Song village?"  
"Humph. The Song village people are losers!" I screamed at him, and started kicking. My foot met its target at the kid's stomach, and he fell back.  
"Why I odda...," he growled, and and jumped back up, and pulled his fist behind him. I winced when I saw him bring it forward, but nothing came. I dared to open one eye, but didn't see anything. I opened the other, and saw that the silver haired man was holding the kid back, though he was highly reluctant. Sakura had her hands cupped over her mouth, and Naruto was wide eyed, his jaw dropped. Finally the kid gave up, but his teeth were still clenched and his fists were held tight. His eyes were angry fire, and he looked like he was restraining from throwing a knife at me. The man let go of the kid, and he turned away without another argument. "Golf ball clan," I murmured, and he spun around to charge again, but the man held him back. He pushed the kid in front of him, and they disappeared. Sakura went after them, but Naruto stayed. "Woah," he said. "That's the biggest fight I've ever seen Sasuke in with someone else." So that kid was Sasuke.  
"Who was that man?" I asked.  
"That's Kakashi Sensei. I think he favors Sasuke, because he always trains with him. I have to settle with Pervy Sage." The name made my skin crawl.  
"Er, Pervy Sage?" I asked, my voice wavering. I was wondering why Naruto was training with someone like that.  
"Oh," he said. "for the Chunin exams, Kakashi Sensei was training with Sasuke, and he tried to make me train with this other perve. I ditched him, and started training with Pervy Sage, who taught me this cool move! Do you wanna see?" I wondered what he was about to show me, and I almost felt worried. But instead, he made a shadow clone of himself, only one, and started making a huge ball of chakara in his hand. The clone was quickly manuevering his hands over the ball as it grew and seemed stronger. Then the clone disappeared and Naruto held the ball in both hands, and held it behind him. He hesitated for a moment to look for something, and then started charging at a tree. He pulled his hands forward, quickly and powerfully, and pushed the ball into the trunk. The tree snapped, cracked, and fell backward, away from Naruto. The trunk was scorched, a hold right through it. I didn't quite recognize the move, but I knew it was very powerful. "What is it?" I asked, still mesmerized by the scorched tree.  
"It's the Rasengan. Only three people have mastered it!" He smiled as he bragged about the Rasengan, but I didn't really listen. I snapped to attention when Sakura stepped out of the bushes. "Kakashi Sensei's wondering where you are. Come one!" she said. Naruto shrugged. "I'm coming. Lucky he didn't send Sasuke. He might of killed Kichimaru this time!" He laughed at his own joke and followed Sakura into the woods. The sky was getting grey, and I knew that if wasn't nightfall yet. I groaned as rain started to fall, and the tree I was tied to was skimpy and would cover one bit of me. "Why me?" I groaned, and wished that Suta was here.

I was in a shadow forest, and I was running. I knew why I was running, but my concious mind didn't know at all. But I ran, and I didn't tire, and then something was running with me. It was a large white tiger, its shoulders as high as my head. It ran with me, and I knew who it was. This was Suta. I still ran, I still didn't tire, and nothing ran with us. I saw nothing, yet I saw everything. I couldn't tell at all. I knew who, or what, I was running from, but my concious mind didn't know at all. But I kept running, and I never tired, and then I fell. I was weak now, and Suta was gone. A tall, dark figure appeared by me, he looked at me with cruel, dead eyes. I heard no sound except his only words, "Die."

I awoke with a shock, someone was shaking me by the shoulder while another was untying my ropes. When the ropes fell, I fell, and I felt my clothes plastered to my skin. I remembered the rain and the dream and the game, and pulled myself upright. Every joint in my body was stiff and aching, and I had a painful headache. "Rukima Sensei says that you don't have to train today," said Aki, who apparently was the one who had awoken me.  
"Thank goodness," I groaned, and started walking into the forest and to town. Aki followed me, which I was grateful for because I had no idea which part of the forest I was in. I tripped painfully over roots and rocks, which was no surprise to me because one, I still wasn't used to the town and hadn't been in the forest, two, I was stiff and sore and uncoordinated, and three, I was half asleep. I almost sighed with relief when the trees broke away to the town, and Aki said goodbye and went back into the forest. I almost sighed again when I saw that my house was very near. I quickly went through the door and to my room. Suta followed me, his paws in almost perfect sequence with my feet. I guess that Rukima Sensei had told my parents about the bell game because they didn't question why I wasn't home last night. I closed my door behind me, and plopped onto my bed and put my hands behind my head. I stared at my ceiling, thinking about my dream. It seemed so de-ja-vu in a way, only it felt like I was a fortune teller, seeing my future. Suta jumped onto my bed and curled up beside me, but then he noticed my troubled reverie. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.  
"Nothing," I said. "Only a dream."  
"Tell me," he said, his concerned voice fading back to normal.  
"Well," I said. "First I was running, then you in demon form was running with me, and then I fell. Then...then this dark figure was standing over me. He seemed so familiar. Suta, I-I think that it was Itachi!" Memories flooded my head, about Suta entering my body, about the man with dead-man eyes, and about the young voice I heard yell when Itachi had left me to be burned by Suta. I wondered who that voice belonged to. I guess I'd never find out. Different memories flooded me now, about moving to different villages with Mom and Dad, each time Suta's "spot" changed. And each time I tried to make my family believe that his fur had grown enough to change it, and each time they seemed to buy it. My memories were interupted when heard a mysterious clanking outside. I pulled myself to the window, and saw among the few people on the street a boy with bushy eyebrows, long black hair, and green clothes with...orange stockings? He had crutches, and they their movements matched the clanking sound I had heard. He looked like he was struggling, and it was confirmed when he fell to the ground. No one stopped to help him, and my first reaction was running out of my room and outside to the street. By the time I saw him again, he was trying to get up. And yet again no one tried to help him. "Are you okay?" I asked, grabbing his arm and helping him up.  
"Yes, I am fine," he said. "Thank you. I've never seen you before. Are you new?" I nodded, and handed him his crutches.  
"Yes, I am. I'm in a squad with Yuma, Aki, and Rukima Sensei. My name's Kichimaru, what's yours?"  
"That does not sound like a girl name." he said. I frowned at him. "Anyway, my name is Rock Lee, but I am usually called Lee or Bushy Brow." I noticed that he had no casts or leg braces, and I wondered what was wrong with him. "What happened to you, Lee? Why do you have those crutches?" Lee's eyes dropped to the ground, and his eyes went sad. "An...accident," he murmured, but then he smiled. "It is nothing to worry about!" he laughed. "I will be fine! Well, I have to go. I hope we will meet again, Kichimaru!" He limped away slowly, his legs wobbling under him. I felt sorry for him. He looked like he was in pain with each step he took. "Poor guy," said, and was replied by Suta.  
"Yeah. I wonder what the accident was."  
"Me too," I asked. But something that could hurt him so much that he needed crutches to keep upright, I assumed, wouldn't be very splendid to meet. I walked back to my house, now remembering that every muscle in my body was burning and aching, and went back to my room without a word.

I had the dream about Itachi again. But it was more chilling this time. This time, when Itachi said, "Die." he shot me with something red and glowing. And it hurt.

I awoke with my heart pounding and my breath weezing. It was still day, but it was later for sure and I was starving. I pulled myself out of bed, and changed my clothing quick. I brushed my messy hair, which had the worst knots I think I've ever had. I sighed with relief when I was finally done. I looked around for Suta, but he wasn't around. Instead, I heard yowling, hissing, and yelling from outside my window. I looked out, expecting Suta to be in a fight with a dog, but instead I saw him clawing and biting at a guy with a white shirt, blue shorts, and a green over shirt. He also had sandles and and a head band that when through the middle of his long brown hair. He had red swirls on his cheeks, and he had a chicken drum stick in his hand. "Suta!" I yelled, and opened my window. I jumped out (yes, my room's on the first floor) and ran to the battle. I grabbed Suta and started tugging, but he was holding on tight to the boy's clothing. When I finally pulled him off, also ripping the guy's clothes, I threw him into my bedroom window and slammed it closed. The guy was gasping, and took a bite of the drum stick. "Thanks," he said after swallowing. He took another bite, and started waving it over his head. I turned around and saw Suta at the window, shouting unheard at the guy. I turned back around, laughing. "Hi," I said with a smile. "I'm new here. My name is Kichimaru, and that psycho cat is Suta." The guy gulped down the chicken and answered, "Psycho cat just about fits him. My name's Choji. You know-"  
"-I don't really have a girl's name?" I asked, and he nodded. "I get that a lot." Choji laughed, and said, "True, but that's not what I was going to say. I was going to say that you look a lot like Kiba. Only you have a cat instead of a ninja hound. And you have cat ears..." I shrugged, and was startled by another voice. It was another guy. He had a net-like shirt and a short sleeved jacket. He had black hair tied into a tight pony-tail, and his Leaf village plaque was pinned to the left sleeve of his jacket. He had dark grey pants, and he looked like he just didn't care about much. "Hey, Choji," he said. "Who's this? She looks like Kiba."  
"This is Kichimaru. She has a psycho cat named Suta that tried to kill me for my chicken!"  
"Hmm," said the guy. "Why would a cat be so interested in _your_ meat?" Choji looked confused for a moment, then said, "Um, well, it wasn't exactly mine...I kinda took it from him." I frowned at him, and the guy shook his head.  
"Can I keep it?" he asked me, and I just sighed and agreed. Choji jogged away happily, and to my unsurprise the direction of a food shop. "So your Kichimaru?" said the guy. "Naruto told me about you. And how you have those ears and that name." I frowned. Shikamaru smiled with amusement. "My name's Shikamaru. Choji is in my squad along with Ino."  
"Who's Kiba?" I asked.  
"He's in a different squad. He has this dog named Akamaru that he never leaves behind." I nodded in understanding.  
"Well, I have to go," said Shikamaru. "See you later." He turned away and I went back inside. "I didn't see you leave..." mumbled Mom when I came through the door. I just shrugged and went to my room to a clearly angry Suta.


	5. A Feud Gets Worse

I had been sitting, un-tired, in my bed for many hours. It was Midnight, now, and Suta was curled up next to me. I was bored out of my mind and had already set out clothes, gotten into pajamas for once, cleaned my room, cleaned out my closet, and even practiced standing upside down on the ceiling with my chakara. Maybe, I decided, I could raid the attic. There had to be something remotely cool there. I gently climbed out of bed so not to wake Suta and tiptoed out of the door. I walked down the shadowed hall, shuffling my feet on the wooden floor so my footsteps wouldn't be heard by my cat's demon hearing. The night was especially dark inside my house. No windows were close enough to give enough light for a normal person, but since Suta's essence was part of me, I could see well enough to locate the attic door.  
I stopped close to my parents' room and looked up. The door was right above me. A ratty rope hung from a rusty loop hook and brushed my ears. I reached up and grabbed it and tugged on it. It was wedged in with moisture or something. I pulled harder and a large _crack_ scared the flipping daylights out of me. I ducked down instinctively to avoid anything that might fall through the door but nothing fell except dust and a broken metal nail. Wait, a nail? The whole door was nothing but one piece of ply wood! I noticed that the door was U-curved with a small splintering crack in the middle. "Oh crap," I muttered. Busted for sure. But the mysterious nail made me curious. I almost regret my curiosity sometimes, but as Suta always said, "Curiosity killed the cat!" He was so dorky. Anyway, I was already going to be in trouble so why hold back? I grabbed the rope again, which was now at my nose, and tugged again.  
Another _crack_ and the door fell down revealing thick boards nailed to it. _How the **heck** were my parents sleeping through this?!And why would the attic door be nailed shut?_ I thought. Suddenly a huge _thud _sent me jumping backward and onto the ground. I scrambled back to my feet and found that it was only the ladder scaling down a little late. I took one last look at the broken attic door and tiptoed to my parents' room's door. I turned the doorknob slowly and opened the door a crack. I looked through with one eye and blinked twice until my eyes adjusted more to the darker light. I looked around to see if my parents were out of bed and then at the bed itself. No one was in it! I closed the door and went back to the attic hole. I stepped onto the ladder and grasped the higher steps, climbed up enough to peek my head through the hole, and what I saw surprised me. I had expected dust, rats, and spiders, but there were just loads of boxes. But the attic wasn't cut off from the spiders and dust, of course. Rat poison was in each corner to my relief.  
I climbed the last few steps and hauled myself onto the attic floor which was soft with dust and cobwebs. I just hoped that there weren't any nails lying around under the dust, waiting to sink into the foot of a demon/human hybrid. At the same time I wondered what kind of defense Suta had against metal nails. Probably lots if he couldn't be effected by a bullet. But yet again I only had 25 percent of the power that Suta has...  
I pulled myself away from my thoughts and stepped toward the closest box. It was red with rusted nails closing in whatever it contained. I got down on one knee and started prying open the top. The wood was rotted and weak so it came loose easily. A cloud of dust erupted from it, covering the floor and box with even more filth. After a long coughing fit I pulled my watering eyes open.  
There was a lot of paper and parchment. All of it was either crinkled from being wet long ago or eaten away by age. I fingered through the grimy paper until I found something. It was a picture frame! It was made of rich oak with silver patterns. The glass was covered with grime which stuck to my fingers. I wrinkled my nose and wiped away as much as I could until I could see the picture inside it. It was a group seven people. They all had jet black hair and broad, brave faces. Even the two children that stood with their mothers. I recognized a small girl with cheery eyes as me. Only without the marks on my face, cat ears, or pink hair. For the first time in five years I saw myself as I used to be. Who I was before Itachi destroyed the Clan.  
As I thought of him and his now cold, evil eyes I recognized another person. He wasn't a child really, probably a teenager, and he was standing next to an obviously proud man who was most likely his father. I looked at the boy and shivered. It was Itachi Uchiha. I was about to throw the picture back in when I remembered that the two adults, a man and woman, had to be my parents. With my thumb covering my evil cousin's face I stared at them. I missed them so much that whenever I used hear other kids talking about their parents I'd almost break out in tears. I was far from over their tragic death but I could restrain from crying. Their still, smiling faces made me feel safe from Itachi. Safe from any harm at all. I felt that if I could imagine their faces I could never die! But I sighed, knowing that this wasn't possible for me. Or for anyone.  
I put the picture down, a final tear added to its surface, and poked through more of the paper. I found a dead rat in its midst and almost screamed when it moved. But my heart restarted when I realized that it was just the force of the dust under it moving it. It was still unpleasant to have it in here where I could touch it at any time so I poked it into a corner. I pulled out some of the paper from the other end of the box so it would be easier to find more stuff. As I put a wad of paper onto the ground I heard a clank. I looked toward the source of the sound with break-neck speed. It was from the paper ball. I took it in my hands and started to unravel it until I found a bronze necklace inside. I took the cold jewelry in my hand and looked at the gen it held. It was broken at the end but so far it was like a white ball. It was small enough to only fit around my wrist twice, so it must have belonged to a small child. I found the hook that held it together and tried to fit it around my neck. It went around well but with only a small space to spare. But as soon as I let it hang across my throat it broke off. Figures, I guess.  
I threw it back into the box and looked for more stuff, but all I found was another picture. It was a larger portrait but only had two children. I immediately recognize a girl on the left side as me, and the other one was a small boy. He looked amazingly familiar, almost like Itachi, but was more kind looking. Also, he was too young to be Itachi at this time. She laced through her memory, searching for this boy's face.  
But suddenly, a sharp voice called out my name. "Kichimaru Uchiha, what are you doing?" it said. I dropped the picture back into the box and whipped around. I saw my father's head above the door, one hand on the floor and the other gripping the ladder. "I-I was, er-"  
"You were going to go back to bed immediately," finished Dad coldly. I got to my feet and went down the ladder after he had climbed back down. "You'll clean this mess up tomorrow after training," said my dad, gesturing to the broken wood and nails. I nodded slowly and went back down the hall and to my room.

I awoke with a start. Suta was yowling cat-like trying to wake me up. "What time is it?" I asked, grabbing my jacket.  
"Late!" he yelled while he ran downstairs. I rolled my eyes.  
"THANKS FOR THE HELP!" I yelled over my shoulder as I got ready. I was tying, or trying to, my ribbon in my hair while brushing through it with my fingers. I ran past the kitchen before Mom could ask me if I wanted breakfast and ran down the street and to the bridge. Then I remembered Suta. I stopped skid to a stop, sending dust into the air and onto me, and turned around back to the house. I ran into the door, grabbed Suta, and put him in my pocket. I ran back outside, running as fast as I could, the shops whirring by as I got closer to the bridge. Then suddenly, my foot caught on something and I was suddenly shot forward. At, my speed, I fell about five feet and slid about two. "I'd give that about a nine and a half," said a voice. I got up to my feet and brushed the dirt from my clothes. But it was useless because I had so much dirt that all I could do was smear it. Suddenly, I heard a barking and growling dog. I felt Suta shift in my pocket and growl right back. "It's okay, Akamaru," said the voice again. I turned around toward the voice. It was a boy with a light grey jacket on. He had his hood up, which was rimmed with some kind of rough furry material. Weirdly, he had a dog on top of his head. "You must be Kiba," I said, my hand in my pocket to hold Suta inside. "Shikamaru told me about you."  
"Then you must be Kichimaru," he said. "Cat lady, Copy Cat, etcetera etcetera." I frowned at him.  
"I am not a Copy Cat! Wait, how am I a Copy Cat?" Kiba pointed at my pocket. Suta had accomplished getting his head out of the pocket.  
"What's this got to do with Suta?" I asked, pushing his head back down.  
"Carrying a white ninja animal with you wherever you go. Sounds kind of familiar you think!?" I had half a mind to let Suta go full-on at the dog on his head. Maybe Suta'll claw his head off.  
"Hey," said Kiba, thankfully changing the subject. "aren't you brawling with Sasuke? Heard you called his Clan crest 'a stupid red golf ball'."  
"Er," said Suta. "Don't you have training?"  
"Ah! Yeah, I have to go, bye!" I yelled back at Kiba while resuming my race to training. When I finally reached the bridge, Rukima Sensei, Yuma, and Aki were already...well, they were trying to walk on the stream water. "You're late," said Rukima Sensei. I nodded and asked what the others were doing. "They're focusing their chakara to their feet, like with the trees, so they can literally walk on water. Why don't you give it a shot?" Oh, crap.

I walking down the road and back to my house after training. I was soaking wet because I was too tired to really work out my chakara well and fell into the stream multiple times. "That went well," said Suta sarcastically. He was walking by me because he didn't want to be 'plastered inside a wet pocket'. Understandable, I guess. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong?" I asked. I hope it wasn't Akamaru or Kiba. I really don't like them very much. Suta's pupils had gone to slits. He was looking at something by that Antique shop. I followed his gaze and into an alley where a boys stood with his arms crossed. He had red hair and bleak eyes with some sort of mark above his left eye. He was wearing all dark red and he was looking straight at me... I started running back to my house. Something just wasn't right with this guy. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't notice that he had come out of the alley until I looked back to see if he was following me. Some man was yelling at him, though I couldn't see his features nor hear what he was saying. But all the better that he wasn't after me. I turned looked back in front of me, but I didn't see who was in front of me before it was too late... I slammed into him before Suta could warn me. We both fell to the ground, me getting dusty again. But since I was wet it would be full-on mud. "What the...!" said the person. "Oh, it's you again, loser." I frowned at Sasuke.  
"Oh looky, it's the Golf ball Clan kid!" I mused while getting to my feet. Sasuke got up, too, his teeth clenched with anger. "What's with you?!" he yelled at me.  
"No, what's wrong with you?!" I said. "Why don't you just crawl down a hole and stay their!" Sasuke yelled out and pulled back his arm for a blow. But I grabbed his arm and threw him over my head. But he landed on his feet and started charging at me. I jumped out of the way, but he pulled his arm back and elbowed me in the shoulder, strong enough to send me to the ground. When I scrambled up to my feet, Sasuke was already going for another attack. I pulled a kunai knife and threw it straight at him. It hit him square in the head. I gasped, thinking that I'd killed him, but then he poofed away, replaced with a log. "Substitution," I muttered, focusing my chakara to my ears as to listen to where he was at. I heard the soft _schroosh _of a shoe on dirt, but before I could turn toward the sound I was pulled by the arm and thrown down a nearby alley between two houses. I fell on my back and flipped backward. I landed crouched down low on my feet with on hand on the ground to hold me up and the other searching for a weapon. I couldn't use any kunai knives because that would just cause him to use the Substitution Jutsu again. Same with my long knife or any spurs. I guess that speed and strength was going to be used in this battle. I then heard the _whoosh_ of something speeding in the air. I looked up quickly and saw Sasuke flit by. He was probably planning to hide somewhere now, but he didn't know that I had spotted him-heard him-coming. I listened more and followed him til he landed in the shadows a few feet from me. Then, he quickly jumped at me, grabbing my left arm tightly. But I was ready and pulled him toward me. I aimed a punch at his stomach, and it made contact hard enough to make my knuckles crack. Sasuke gasped with shock, but I noticed that he still had hold of my arm. I flipped him over instead, and he let go and slid on the alley dust. We were now both charging at each other, arms pulled back for our strongest hits, anger flaring inside. Sasuke threw his strike first, but I grabbed his fist and threw my punch. Amazingly he caught my hit also. We were stuck this way, knowing that if we let go of the other's fist we'd be hit, and we couldn't pull away our own fists. "Suta!" I called.  
"Suta? Isn't Suta that miserable cat you carry around?" asked Sasuke, sneering at me. But I smirked as I saw Suta out of the corner of my eye. He was on the roof, crouching down, ready to pounce on Sasuke... But instead he landed between us, yowling loudly. I assumed he meant to make us stop, but I ignored him. I pulled back my leg and kneed Sasuke in the stomach hard enough to send him flying. "Nice help you are," I snarled at Suta.  
"Stop fighting now!" he demanded. "You will only cause more trouble!"  
"What does it matter!"  
"Because your sensei is coming!"  
Indeed that did change my mind, but before I could retreat, Sasuke appeared behind me. I whirled around and aimed a strike at him, but he blocked it with is forearm and grabbed mine with his other hand. After a moment of struggling I said to him, "Rukima Sensei is coming! We must stop now!"  
"No," he said. "We will end this properly."  
I thought for a moment, wondering how to escape this. "At the end of this week," I said. "Four days from now. We'll battle then, in the forest or anywhere else, and end this feud."  
With hesitation, Sasuke released my arm and his other hand was put to his side.  
"Better start training Kichimaru," he said, and flitted away with remarkable speed.  
"Is that you, Kichimaru?" said a voice from behind me.  
"Uh, y-yeah," I jabbered. "I, er, was just leaving, Rukima Sensei!" With that I ran down to the other side of the alley and back home.


End file.
